Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter December 12, 2007

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter
DECEMBER 12, 2007
FreeWillAstrology.com

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"Where there is danger there grows also what saves."
- Friedrich Hölderlin, "Patmos"

"Live at the empty heart of paradox.
I'll dance with you there, cheek to cheek."
- Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

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My book
"PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings"
is available for sale at
tinyurl.com/qaj62

To read news and features from the book, go here:
tinyurl.com/lhwx2

Here are some reviews:

Read the definitive review by Rick DelVecchio in the San Francisco Chronicle:
tinyurl.com/yhfczh

"While it may seem naive to put your faith in optimism these days, Brezsny's new book offers up a convincing argument for leaving cynicism and despair behind. This wild, wise, and subversive book is a must read for those who want to live a more imaginative and free life."
- Utne Reader

"Rob Brezsny has dedicated himself to putting the 'pro' back into 'protest.' In Pronoia, he presents his own irreverent manifesto, mixing activism and optimism. It reads like the I Ching on Ecstasy and is as insightful and puzzling as a Zen koan."
- Body + Soul magazine

"In Pronoia is the Antidote for Paranoia, Brezsny tenderly leads us into the practice of re-imagining the world as a compassionate miracle. It's the best campaign platform I've heard in years. And the book offers a bevy of ideas for tricksters to re-create the universe."
- Santa Cruz Sentinel

"PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia is like stepping through your very own magic looking glass. These are not your mother's fairy stories, and if you have no desire to learn to laugh at yourself, forget it. Brezsny is a diabolical lyricist, an infectious dreamer, and a riotous Doctor of Know."
- Cathoderaytan.net

"Like a mutant love-child of Jack Kerouac and Anais Nin, Rob Brezsny writes with devilish humor, spiritual audacity, and erotic intensity."
- Jay Kinney, author of Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions

"Like some voluble combination of H.L. Mencken and a Sufi whirling dervish, Brezsny writes with disarming fluidity while still remaining acerbic. In PRONOIA, his style is too sinuous, too wriggly and difficult to classify."
- Santa Fe Reporter

"You don't need The Church, a Savior, a Guru, or psilocybin mushrooms to 'break on through to the other side.' Brezsny takes you there in the pages of PRONOIA. It's the best book I've read in the 21st Century!"
- Chris Duel, News-Talk 550 KTSA, San Antonio, Texas

"Rob Brezsny writes in a lyrical, irreverent, wildly unconventional and beautiful style. I've never seen anyone else write like that. PRONOIA reminds me of Ram Dass' Be Here Now, and I think it will be as popular."
- Amazon.com

"I've seen the future of American literature and its name is Rob Brezsny."
- novelist Tom Robbins

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To read news and features from my book, go here: tinyurl.com/lhwx2

You can buy the book here:

AMAZON
tinyurl.com/qaj62

POWELLS
tinyurl.com/3dsx6q

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OTHER PRONOIA RESOURCES:

EXALTED BUILDING
tinyurl.com/22umcy
tinyurl.com/2nueb5
Three decades ago, Italian spiritual leader Oberto Airaudi had a vision of sacred temples built inside a mountain near Turin. As artists, artisans, and builders excavated the equivalent of a five-story subterranean building, it remained a secret from even its closest neighbors. Twenty years after the project began, the Italian government received word of the burgeoning community and became suspicious. Threatened by a full-scale military invasion, Damanhur revealed itself to local officials and the world.

MACARTHUR GENIUS-TYPE AWARDS FOR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
The Youseum
tinyurl.com/24jm5l
Awards bestowed on unsung heroes who are not routinely in the public eye and whose culture doesn't ordinarily acknowledge ingenious, sublime, and unusually vigorous expressions of emotional intelligence.

SAVE THE WORLD BY MAKING LOVE?
The Marriage of Sex And Spirit: Relationships at the Heart of Conscious Evolution edited by Geralyn Gendreau, Randy Peyser, Francesca Gentille, Courtney Arnold
tinyurl.com/ywqwxe

(Note: I endorse these because I like them. These are not advertisements, and I get no kickbacks.)

Please tell me your own personal nominations for PRONOIA RESOURCES.

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning December 13

Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny
FreeWillAstrology.com

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

A group of us decided to throw a party. The Sagittarian among us, Rosa, insisted on being in charge of supplying the desserts. She feared that if anyone else handled this task, there wouldn't be enough, and they wouldn't be sweet enough or rich enough or decadent enough. To make sure the delectable treats were available in rapturous abundance, she felt she could only trust herself. In this spirit, I appoint you to be the sweet, rich, decadent dessert-provider for the entire world in the coming weeks. I'm using "desserts" in both the literal and metaphorical senses.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Among modern Baghdad's most prominent architectural features are its blast walls. These omnipresent concrete barriers shield buildings from truck bombs and random gunfire. They were nothing but oppressive eyesores up until a few months ago, when a team of 40 artists began covering them with brightly colored murals that depict idyllic landscapes and glorious scenes from Iraqi history. Your next assignment, Capricorn, is to try an equivalent conversion. Add beauty to something ugly; bring a light touch and a creative spirit to a troublesome situation; dress up your defense mechanisms in silk and gold.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Let's meditate on events that have an impact at a great distance from their origins. For instance, African dust reaches Florida, raising pollution levels, just as particulate matter from China floats over to sully California's skies. Here's another example: The CIA played a major role in overthrowing the democratically elected prime minister of Iran in 1953, and this is still wreaking chaos on the current relationship between the U.S. and Iran. In the coming week, Aquarius, I predict your life will provide another example of this theme, although in your case the long-range influence is likely to be far more benign than the other cases I cited -- possibly even downright benevolent.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

"Open your minds, sweethearts," begins the soothing rant of enlightenment advisor Dvorah Adler (Dvorahji.com). "Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. It's time for you to hear the big secret of the ages, the radical truth of truths that only the wisest gurus and avatars and grandmothers are brave enough to reveal. Are you ready? Here it is: 'SHUT UP AND BE HAPPY!'" I'm pleased to convey Dvorah's ancient truth to you, Pisces, because it's what you need to hear right now. So please, darlings: Shout, whisper, or sing "SHUT UP!" to all the voices in your head that are so addicted to saying "What am I doing wrong?", "When will I finally be happy?", and "Why can't everything be perfect forever?" The fact is, you are exactly where you need to be, and everything is proceeding with mysterious grace.

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EXPANDED AUDIO HOROSCOPES

In addition to the horoscopes that come to you in this newsletter, I create audio horoscopes for your inspiration. They discuss themes and cover material that I don't have room to deal with in the written horoscopes.

They're $6 if you access them on the Web, or $1.99 per minute over the phone.

Try them at RealAstrology.com.

By phone: 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

"I always feel like I know myself better after listening to your audio 'scopes."
- June R., Austin, TX

"Your audio horoscopes calm me down when I'm too manic and pep me up when I'm down."
- Arthur T., Cleveland, OH

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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

"Everything absolute belongs to pathology. Joyous distrust is a sign of health." So proclaimed Friedrich Nietzsche. Note well that he used the adjective "joyous" to describe distrust, not "cynical" or "grumbling" or "sour." The key to remaining vital and strong while questioning every so-called absolute is to cultivate a cheerful, buoyant mood as you do it. That's one of your top assignments in the coming weeks, Aries: Practice joyous distrust.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Here are the best and most enjoyable ways to capitalize on your current astrological omens: (1) Transform one of your so-called liabilities into at least a temporary asset; (2) lose any attachment you have to pleasures and rewards that won't mean much to you a year from now; (3) allow and even invite people to show you how you can get smarter; (4) compassionately identify the limits of the people you care about; (5) squeeze every last lesson out of what you're leaving behind.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

In Big Russ and Me, a memoir about growing up, journalist Tim Russert writes a lot about what he learned from his father. Here's one story: Whenever a family member accidentally broke some glass, his dad took extraordinary precautions wrapping up the shards in a sealed box before depositing them in the trash can. Why? Because he wanted to be sure the garbagemen wouldn't cut their hands. I urge you to be that conscientious in the coming week, Gemini. Imagine in detail the impact your actions might have on all the people, both known and unknown, whose lives you touch. The gods will reward you for doing so.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

Are your cohorts looking at you quizzically, wondering why you seem so energized from exploring the shadowy, off-limits places? I'll offer some suggestions about what you could say to them. First, try to make them see that until you've risked going too far, you may not know when to stop. Second, tell them that you suspect there are healthy desires buried at the roots of your dark feelings, and you're hoping to free them. Third, explain to them that you're not picking at your scabs in order to prolong your hurt, but rather to better understand the hurt. If those rationales are too subtle for your companions to understand, cackle softly and say that you just need to be a little bad in order to give your goodness more soul.

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AUDIO HOROSCOPES

In addition to the horoscopes that you're reading here, I create audio horoscopes for your amusement and inspiration. Find out more at RealAstrology.com.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

"Your audio horoscopes work better than my therapist and cost me five percent of what he charges."
- Chris M., San Francisco, CO

"You've helped me remember important things about myself that I'd forgotten."
- Ruth V., Toronto

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LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

A lightning bolt is hot, fast, and potent. It can travel at 100,000 mph, reach temperature of 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and generate enough energy to illuminate a light bulb for two months. And yet it's usually no more than an inch in diameter. This is an apt metaphor for the kind of highly concentrated power you will have available in the coming days, Leo: deceptively petite in proportion to its enormous wallop. Please use it wisely.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

At Free Will Astrology, we love to turn things upside-down and inside-out every now and then. It keeps our mental hygiene sparkling clean, and yours, too. This week, in order to incite a purifying ruckus, we're offering you a challenge from psychologist James Hillman. Please suck the following thoughts into the deepest recesses of your understanding, and enjoy the brainstorms they detonate: "By accepting the idea that you are the effect of a subtle buffeting between hereditary and societal forces, you reduce yourself to a result. The more your life is accounted for by what already occurred in your chromosomes, by what your parents did or didn't do, and by your early years now long past, the more your biography is the story of a victim." What I'm trying to tell you, Virgo, is that it's a fine time to rebel against your genetic heritage, your upbringing, and your conditioning. Imagine a life for yourself in which you don't believe that those factors control what you're capable of.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

It's the Season of Returns and Recoveries, Libra. You will generate good fortune if you look for what you lost. Here are some suggestions on how to proceed: Recall important memories you've almost forgotten, retrieve any valuable things you rashly threw away, and bushwhack your way back to a promising path you strayed from. For best results, you should forgive yourself of any mistakes you think you made that led to the loss.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

For reasons too silly to go into here (involving romance, of course), I once spent six months making thrice-weekly three-and-a-half-hour roundtrips from Chapel Hill, NC to Columbia, SC. The back roads I drove on were sparsely traveled and my ancient pick-up truck didn't have a radio, so I passed the time by reading. I became quite skilled at continually darting my eyes back and forth between the road and the open book resting on my steering wheel. In this way I got through James Joyce's Ulysses, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain. I don't advise you to try something so dangerous, Scorpio, but I do believe it's a perfect astrological moment for you to master the art of slipping back and forth between two starkly different realities.

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HOMEWORK:

Forget what Time magazine thinks. Who is your "Person of the Year?" Tell me by going to FreeWillAstrology.com and clicking on "Email Rob."

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WANT TO GET YOUR CHART DONE?

I'm not doing personal charts, but I highly recommend my astrological colleague, RO LOUGHRAN. Her approach closely matches my own. In our many discussions about astrology over the years, we've had a major influence on each other's work.

Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and a high degree of technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation; she is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your own inner wisdom.

Ro is based in California, but can do phone consultations and otherwise work with you regardless of geographic boundaries.

Ro's website is at YourSoulJourney.com

She can also be reached at roloughran@comcast.net

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Submissions sent to the Free Will Astrology Weekly Newsletter or in response to "homework assignments" may be published in a variety of formats at Rob Brezsny's discretion, including but not limited to newsletters, books, the Free Will Astrology column, and Free Will Astrology website. We reserve the right to edit such submissions for length, style, and content. Requests for anonymity will be honored with submissions; otherwise, reader names, screen names, or initials will be used. Please be sure to note your preference when sending to us. We are not responsible for unsolicited submission of any creative material.

Contents of the Free Will Astrology Newsletter are Copyright 2007 Rob Brezsny

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